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Fuck.
I sidestepped away from him and turned toward the darkened window that overlooked the side of the house, pretending to be fascinated by the view, though I could see nothing but the reflection of my own pained, hungry expression… and Brody’s wide-eyed, confused one.
Humerus. Scapula. Clavicle.
“Sorry,” I managed once I was able to squeeze words out in some semblance of a normal voice. “I just meant that, ah… under the circumstances, you should call me Grant. If you want. Not a big deal, either way.” I forced a laugh.
“Are you… are you sure you’re okay?” he asked slowly.
I nodded without turning around. “Upset at myself for causing this situation. For letting it get this far.” That was the truth, at least. “The dean made assumptions when she saw your name as an emergency contact on the application, and I didn’t correct her. I didn’t know how. I’m sorry, Brody. I swear, I’m not trying to pressure you into lying for me o-or worse, marrying me.”
I reallyhadn’timagined involving Brody in my lie at all… at least until halfway through dinner, when Brody had been so perfectlyBrody, and Mia had made a comment about how dedicated he was to making the girls happy, and I’d looked at him across the table and thought,Yes. Marry him. Keep him.
Now I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind.
He let out a strangled sound, and I wished that I could see his face, but I couldn’t turn without showing off a very clear and present—what had he called it on the phone earlier?—dick print against my khaki slacks.
My dick, at least, did not feel that sex with Brody would be overrated. Not in the slightest.
“Okay.” Brody blew out a breath, and in my peripheral vision, I saw him begin pacing again. “Okay, let’s think about this.” It sounded like he was talking more to himself than to me, so I didn’t interrupt. “You need a spouse. At least temporarily. And I don’t suppose you’ve been, um… dating anyone you haven’t mentioned?”
“No.” I turned from the window and retreated behind my desk, desperately trying to gain back some distance… though the fact that his pajamas rode lower and lower on his lean hips as he paced was making that extremely difficult to achieve.
“Really? No one? Not, like, a nice—” He cleared his throat. “—woman that you maybe meet for, um, lunches or… anything?”
“No. There’s no one,” I admitted. “I haven’t dated in years.”
“Right. Good. I mean…ha. I mean, notgood. But, um… good toknow. For… for planning purposes.” He nodded to himself. “And what about Liza? I know she’s busy, but maybe she could come back—”
I shook my head before he could finish speaking. “When I spoke to her a couple of weeks ago, Liza was in Georgia—the country, not the state.” At least, I was pretty sure that was the Georgia she meant. “And she hasn’t even made it back for a visit since the girls’ spring break last March. She loves them, but when she left, she made it clear that she was at the end of her ‘full-time parenting era.’ I can’t imagine that she’d come back for this.”
Brody grimaced. “Lovely. Okay. So… It’s not the divorced thing that the school has a problem with, right?”
“That’s my understanding. If Liza or I were around more, this wouldn’t be an issue.”
“But there must be all sorts of cases where parents canplanto get involved but can’t for various reasons, like if they get ill, or have to take care of someone who is, or if they have a new baby. I can’t imagine they’d make students leave if that happened.”
I shrugged and nodded, not sure where he was going with this. “Probably not.”
“So, really, you only need someone as a… atemporaryspouse. For the first school year, let’s say.” Brody’s eyes flashed in my direction, and he began speaking—and pacing—faster, like he was trying to convince me of something. Or maybe convince himself. “Someone who’ll do what I’m already doing for the girls—managing their extracurriculars, chaperoning, and volunteering, that sort of thing.”
My heart rate picked up again, and my stomach clenched as I imagined where he was going with this. Was he actually offering to—? Agreeing to—?
“Brody, would you—?”
Brody stopped short, then shut his eyes and bit his lip. “I’m leaving,” he blurted.
I pushed to my feet in one jerky movement. “You what? Is it because of this? Because I’ll tell the dean there was a mistake. The girls will understand—”
“No.” He pushed both hands through his hair again. “No, I mean… I’m leaving at the end of the semester.” He turned toward me with his feet braced apart like he was preparing to fight a battle. “I’m graduating in December, remember? And I need to find a job. Asoftwarejob. So I can start saving up money—”
“To start your own company,” I finished, falling back into my chair. My stomach clenched again for an entirely different reason. “We’ve talked about that so many times in the past, but I guess I didn’t let myself think about how soon that would be happening. Well. Obviously, you won’t have to move out until you’re ready. You can live here indefinitely, even after—”
“No,” Brody said in a strangled voice. “I really can’t. I’ll still see the girls as much as I can. As much as you’ll let me. But you’ll need the room.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “For the new nanny.”
“Full-time childcare specialist,” I mused, my mind already shying away from contemplating a time when Brody wouldn’t live here.
Instead, a new thought occurred to me. A solution tobothof our problems. And I was steadfastly ignoring all the warning bells going off in my head as to why it was an absolutely terrible idea.
